Keyless lock



1,583,687 A.v G. HATCH v I KEYLESS ock Filed June 12, 1 25 Q2 sheets-sheet 1 1 IN VEN TOR y. ATTORNEY?- A. G. HATCH KEYLESS LOCK Filed n 12. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY-5'.

Patented May 4, 1926.

ALEXANDER GILCHRIST HATCH, or HONOLULU, TERRITORY or HAWAII, ASSIGNQR;

PATENT. OFFICE."

TO W-H KEYLESS LOCK COMPANY, LIMITED, OE HONOLULU, TERRITQRY OF H'A-.

WAII, A CORPORATION 02E HAWAII.

v KEYLESS LGCK.

Application filed .Tune 12, 1925. Serial No. 36,660.,

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER GiLoHnis'r HATCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Keyless Locks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in keyless locks andhas for one of its objects to provide a device of this character which will be simple in construction,comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and more Gillcient i-nuse than those which have been heretofore proposed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a keyless or permutation lock embody ing a simple and effective construction whereby the combination necessary to open the lock may be readily changed at will without the necessity for the use of a screw driveror any other instrument or tool.

This. combination shiftingffeature is particularly applicable to'the types of keyless locks and permutation wheels shown in the prior co-pending application of Meade Wildrick and Alexander G. Hatch, Ser. No. 728,770, filed July 28, 1924; and the applications of Meade VVildrick, #747,777, filed Nov. 4, 1924, #749,923, filed Nov. 14, 1924, and #749,924, also filed Nov. 14, 1924. While particularly applicable to these various loc (S, and wheels, theshifting feature, however, may be readily corporated in any form or combination lock wherein thewheels are mounted ona common axis and'in which the locking bolt travels parallel to the said axis.

lVith the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combination and arrangement of parts more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. p

Referring tothe accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which like reference characters designate like parts in all the views;

Fig. 1 is a top plan view partly broken away, of one form of permutation lock, constructed in accordance with the present invention, showing the same as applied to a suit case for example;

Fig. 2, is a horizontal sectional plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, is a horizontal cross sectional view, taken approximately on the plane indicated on the line of Fig. 2;

m Fig. 4 is a planvi'ew similar to Fig; 1, but showing also, the hasp member in operat1ve locked positions relative to. the lock; Fig. 5 is a vertical cross sectional view taken approximately on the plane indicated on the line 55 of Fig. 2,, looking in the direction of the arrows; I I i I Fig. 6, is a similar view taken approximately on the plane indicated on the line 6 6 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows Fig. 7, is anexpanded perspective view of the several parts making up one of the permutation wheels or discs together with the shield member therefor; I

Fig. 8, is a diagrammatic plan, view of a slightly modified forin'of the lock, suitable for application to a grip or handbag; and,

F1g$9v is a horizontal cross sectional view through the lock, shown in Fig. 8, taken approgimately on the plane indicated on line Referring more especially, first to Figs.

1 to 7 inclusive, of the drawings, the numeral 10 inidcates generally a face plate which serves as a support for the variousloeking parts of the lock and which may be secured to a wall of the suit case or' other device uponwhich the lock is to be mounted by means of suitable fastenings, not shown,

which may pass through holes 11, provided in the said plate. Secured to the undersurface of the plateface 10 in any suitable manner is a supportingframe, comprising a pair of members 12, which are apertured as at'lS, to "serve as journals for the shaft 14 which supports the permutation wheels. Of, course, any number of such wheels may be employed and for purposes of illustration, only, there has been shown three wheels 15, the detailed construction of which will be set forth more fully below. It might be mentioned in passing', however, that. they are of the general type shown in thesaid co-pending application of Meade Wildrick, #749,923, above mentioned and in which the locking bolt is here designated by the numeral 16 'and it is provided with a plurality of toes or projcctions 17 which are adapted to co-act with the wheels 15 to control the locking of the mechanism. The said bolt 16 is also provided with a projection 18, (see Figs. 1 and 2), which is adapted to bear against a pin 19 passing through an elongated slot 20 formed in the face plate 10 and provided on the outer side thereof, with a suitable finger piece or button 21. The pin 19, as will be readily understood from the drawings, is secured to the latch member but is adapted to move the bolt 16 toward the right as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, while the said bolt s returned in the opposite direction by means of a suitable spring 23 or other motive means, one end of which engages the projection 18 and the other end of which is seated in the right hand frame member 12.

superposed upon the bolt member 16, is a slidable latch member 25 provided with a projection 26 through which the pin 19 passes, which latch member is adapted to be moved toward the right, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, by the said pin and to be returned to its initial position either by manual movement of the pin 19 or by the action of the spring 27, one end of which engagesthe said pin 19, while the other end thereof is seated in the left hand frame member 12 as clearly shown in the said figures. The latch mem ber 25 serves not onlyas aspring catch for the suit case when the lock is open but it also serves as a portion of the locking bolt to prevent the opening of the suit case when the lock is closed, inasmuch as in the latter condition, movement of the pin 19 toward the right will be prevented inasmuch as the bolt 16 cannot then be moved toward the right. a

The permutation wheels 15, as is best shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 7, each comprise two principal parts, an inner member 30 and an outer member 31. The inner member 30 may comprise a cylinder provided intermediate its ends with a circumferential groove 32 in which the toes or projections 17 of the locking bolt 16 may ride when the parts are in the unlocked positions, as will appear more fully below. The left hand end or flange of the said member is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 34 extending completely through the said flange and affording a passage for the said projection or toe 17 whereby the latter may move aXi a1- ly of the wheel, from a position within the said groove 32 to a position to the left of the said flange. The circular end face 35 of the member 30 is also provided with a plurality of radially extending grooves or. recesses 36which are all substantially the same width as the slot 34 and which serve as false slots or recesses to prevent the unauthorized opening of the look by a movement of the bolt toe into engagement with the said face 35 and then a manipulation of the wheel until the position of the'slot 34 might be told by a sense of touch in a similar manner. to that disclosed in the copen'ding applica tions, of Meade VVildrick entitled'Permuta- 'tion wheel for keyless locks, Serial No.

746,177, filed Oct. 27, 1924, and Wheel for keyless locks, Serial No. 746,178, filed Oct. 27, 1924. V I

The other member 31, of the wheel, as best shown in Fig. 7, comprises the indicia bearing ring, one face of which is recessed as indicated at 37 to receive the flange 38 of the member 30. The other face of the said member 31, is provided with a somewhat reducedhub portion 39. a circumference of which carries a plurality of detent notches 40 adapted to be engaged by a detent spring to be described more fully below; The member 31, is also provided with an axial bore 42 in which is slidably mounted, a bushing or sleeve 43. The said sleeve has a bore 44 to receive the shaft 14 and the member 30 likewise has a bore 45 whereby it may be slidablyrmounted upon the said shaft.

In order to operatively connect the two members 30 and 31, together, the former member is provided upon the end face opposite to the one bearing the walls, slots or grooves 36, with a plurality of radially e2:-

tending notches or recesses 46, while the I vent the picking of the look by means of a thin instrument inserted through the open ings 50 of the face plate adjacent the wheels as is described in my co-pending application filed June 12, 1925, Ser. No. 36,659, there is provided the necessary number of substantially annular shield members 51 which are adapted to surround the members 30 when the parts are assembled, one end of the said shield members fittingwithin the recesses 37 of the member 31,while the other end of the said shield member surrounds the hub portion 39 of the adjacent wheel member. The said shield members 51 are prevented from rotating by means of the toes or projections 17 of the locking bolt 16 which project upwardly through elongated slots 52 which extend longitudinally of the for engaging the detent notches 40 formed in the said hub portion 3.9 of that particular wheel member 31. These shield members are not a feature of the invention herein sought to be protected but are claimed in my aforesaid 'copending application Serial No. 36,- 659, filed June 12, 1925.

One end of the shaft 14 is enlarged as shown at 60 (see Figs. and 3), to substantially the same diameter as that of. the sleeves 43 and it enters and serves as a 10111- nal for the right hand wheel member 31.

. The shoulder 61 formed by this enlarged portion engages the right hand face of the ri ht hand Fig. 2 and the parts are so designed and constructed as to permit a longitudinal movement of the said shaft relative to the 'frame members 12 for the purpose of releasing the parts for shifting the combination, as will now be disclosed. That is to say, it may happen that the owner of a device controlled by one of these lockshas reason to believe that some unauthorized person has learned his combination or for other reasons it may be desirable to change the combination. As above set forth, it is an important feature of this invention to providemeans whereby the combination necessary to open the lock may be readily changed '31, and the indicia carried thereby. If,

however, it isdecided to change its relation upon one or more of the permutation wheels with the present construction, it is only necessary to push inwardly upon the enlarged right hand endof the shaft 14 to move the same axially of the lock, which motion will, through the enlarged, portion 60 be communicated to the right hand wheel member .30 and from it to the next succeeding wheel member30 by means of the interposed sleeve 43. This longitudinal movement will, of course, be communicated to all of the various members 30 which may be incorporated in the look through the various sleeve members 43 aswill be readily understood and inasmuch as the combination members 31 of the various members 30 are held against longitudinal movement due to the fact that they project through the openings 50 in the face plate and also due to the spacing shield 51, such movement of the memberswill have the effect of disengaging the wheel member 30 as shown'in.

dowel pins orprojections 47 of the members 31 from the radially extending slots or grooves 46 of themembers 30 whereupon it will be possibleto freely rotate all of the indicia bearing members 31, independently 1 of the members 30 was to change the relative positions of the slot or slots 34 to their respective indicia. It will be noted that in order to accomplish this longitudinal movement of. the parts the old combination will have to be set in order that, when the members 30 are moved toward the left, slots 34 will accommodate the toes or projections .17 of the locking bolt and, of course, while the parts arein this position the members 30 will be prevented from rotating due to the fact that the projections 17 occupy these slots 34. fA suitable spring is provided on the 'right hand frame member 12 for holding the shaft 14 in either of its longitudlnal positions. Of course, after the new combination has been obtained the parts are returned to their initial positions by simply 7 moving the shaft 14 to the'right as viewed in the drawings.

In order to prevent the possibility of the combination being changed while the looking bolt 16 is in the unlocked position shown in Fig.1, which might be accomplished in the manner above described by simply moving the shaft 14 toward the left which would then have the effect of also moving the bolt 16, I have provided the shield member 51 with inwardly extending projections 66 which normally enter into the circumferential grooves 32 of the members 30. These to engage against the right hand wall of the groove 32 and should longitudinal movement toward the left of the members 30 be attempted such movement will be preprojections 66 extend inwardly far enough vented by these projections, except when the said members 30 are in a. certain position. In order to permit such movement, I provide a longitudinally extending groove 68 extending from the circumferential groove 32150 the right hand end of themember 30 which groove. is preferably although not necessarily, located at 180[fro1nthe slot 34 which accommodates the locking toe 17.

The annular relation between these two grooves maybe varied, th s, of course, de pending upon the particular positions of the inward projections 66, relative to the other parts. I

Asa-hove stated, the slide member 25 not only serves to lock the" suitcase butit may also serve as an ordinary spring latch when the suit case is unlocked. That is to say, after the proper combination is set and the knob or finger piece 21 is manipulated to move the pin 19 from the'position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. '1, thereby moving the bolt 16 from locked to unlocked 'position, ifthe combination is destroyed by moving one or more of the permutation wheels so that the bolt 16 is maintained in the position shown in Fig. 1, with its toes or projections 17 riding in the circumferential grooves 32 of the members 30, and if the finger piece is then released, the spring 27 will lead the pin 19 and the latch member 25 to the position shown in Fig. 2 so that the extreme left end of the member 25 may engage the liasp and serve as a spring latch for the suit case.

The principles above described in connection with the suit case lock may be readily applied to other forms of locks, such for example, as that shown in Figs. 8 and 9 which is particularly adapted for use on grips or handbags. Inasmuch as the changes necessary to adapt the invention to this form of lock embody only mechanical details and do not involve an inventive principle, it is not thought necessary to describe these figures in any greater detail than has already been done. The corresponding parts in these figures have been indicated by the primes of the corresponding reference characters.

It isobvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as well as the arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention and it is therefore, not wished to be limited to the above disclosure except asmay be required by the claims.

What is claimed is: v

1. In a keyless lock, a plurality of permutation wheels, each comprising a pair of normally connected members; a locking bolt coacting with said wheels adapted to be locked thereby in open and closed positions; means fordisengaging said pairs of -mem bers; and means for preventing the operation of said last named means when said bolt is lockedin open position.

2. In a keyless look, a plurality of permutation wheels, each comprising a pair of normally connected members, one of which is provided with a circumferential groove,

and a pair of axial slots leading from said groove to the opposite ends of said member; a bolt havinga portion adapted to enter saidgroove through one of said slots ,means for moving one member of each pair to disengage it from its companion member; and means adapted to ride in said groove and the other-of said slots for preventing the operation of said last named means when said bolt portion is in said groove and out of alignment with said first named slot.

3. In a keyless lock for suit cases and the like, a frame; a shaft slidably mounted in said frame; a plurality of permutation wheels mounted onsaid shaft; a bolt coacting with said wheels, adapted to be locked in closed and open positions thereby; a slidable latch; manual means for moving both said bolt and said latch in one direction; and independent spring means for returning said bolt and said latch.

4. A keyless lock comprising a casing, and a lock mechanism mounted therein, said mechanismincluding a plurality of permutation tumblers, each comprising a concealed lock-controlling element and a tumbler-setting element exposed for manipulation through an opening in said casing, couplings normally preventing relative movement between the composite elements of said tumblers, and a single coupling disabling member accessible from the exterior of the as sembled lock whereby all of said couplings may be rendered ineffective, thereby permitting the combination of said lock to be readily changed by merely moving said tumbler-setting elements to any desired positions while saidlock-controlling elements are held fast.

5. A keyless lock comprising a casing and a lock mechanisn'i mounted therein, said mechanism including a plurality of permutation tumblers, each comprising a concealed lock-controlling element and a tumbler-setting element exposed for manipulation through an opening in said casing, couplings normally preventing relative movement between the composite elements of said tumblers, stops to maintain said couplings in effective relation except when said tumblers have been. set in a predetermined relation, and a single coupling disabling member, accessible from the exterior of the assembled lock, whereby all of said couplings may be rendered ineffective when the tumblers have been so set, at which time said stops comprise holding means to prevent movement of said lock-controlling elements, thereby permitting the combination of the lock to be readily changed by merely moving the tumbler-setting elements to any desired positions while said lock-controlling elements are held fast.

7 6. A keyless lock comprising a casing and a lock mechanism mounted therein, said mechanism including a plurality of permu tation wheels, each comprising a lock-con trolling element and an indicia-bearing element exposed for manipulation through an opening in said casing, couplings normally preventing relative movement between the composite elements of said wheels, and a single coupling disabling member, accessible from the exterior of the assembled lock, whereby all of said couplings may be rendered inlfective, thereby permitting the combination of said lock to r be readily changed by merely rotating said indioiabearing elements to any desired positions. while said lock-controlling elements are held fast.

'7. A keyless lock comprising a. casing, a catch so mounted therein as to be movable from an effective to an ineffective position, and vice versa, a locking bolt so mounted in said casing as tovbe movable from an effective position preventing movement of said catch to an ineffective position permitting independent movement thereof, and vice versa, and a locking mechanism for said bolt, said mechanism comprising a pluralit of independently settable permutation tum lers each having a lock-controlling element movable into and out of the path of movement of a part of said bolt when in either of its two positions and preventing movement thereof from eitherposition to the other except when said tumblers have been set in a predetermined relation.

8. A keyless lock comprising a casing, a catch so mounted therein as to be movable from an effective to an ineffective position,

and vice versa, a locking bolt forming an extension of said catch, said bolt being so mounted in said casing as to be movable from an effective position preventingniovement of said catch to an ineffective position permitting independent. movement thereof, and vice versa, a locking mechanism for said bolt, said mechanism comprising a plurality of independently settable permutation tumblers each having a locking-controllingele-' ment movable into and out of the path of movement of a part of said bolt when in either of its two positions and preventing movement thereof from either position to the other except when said tumblers have been :set in a predetermined relation, a manipulator whereby said catch may be retracted when free to move, a one-way driving connection between said catch and said bolt whereby .7 the latter, if free, .may be movedfrom its effective to its ineffective position by retracting said catch, and motive means capable of moving said bolt,

when free, from its ineffective to its effective position and tending to maintain it there except when held fast in its ineffective position by said locking mechanism, the connection between said catch and bolt being such as to permit an independent return of the former to effective position independently of the latter but preventing a return of the latter in advance of a return of the,

former. a

9. A keyless lock comprising a spring latch adapted to be snapped into engagingv relation with a'keeper, a manipulator by which said latch may be retracted when free, a locking bolt movable from an efiective position preventing movement of said latch to an ineffective position permitting independent movement thereof, and vice versa, a locking mechanism for said bolt, said mechanism comprising a plurality of independently settable permutation tumblers each having a lock-controlling element movable into andv out of the path of movement of a part of said bolt when in either of its two positions and preventing movement thereof from either position to the other except when set in a predetermined position,

a one way driving connection between .said latch and said bolt whereby the latter, if free, may be moved from its effective to its ineffective position by retracting said catch,

and motive means, independent of the spring of said latch, capable of moving said bolt, when free, from its ineffective to its effective position and tending to maintain it there except when held fast in its ineffective position by said locking mechanism, the con nection between said latch and bolt being ALEXANDER GILGHRIST HATCH."

such as to permlt an lndependent return of 

